Ben Diss

My Feedback: (23)

Lookin' good Rick. How are you going to hold down the plane on the floor?

-Ben

phazernut

I had a chance to tow my trailer with the Golf last week. It had no problems at all pulling the empty trailer. I did notice it a bit when a gust of wind hit it but I am confident that it will work out fine. We are in the process of finishing the doors now. Hopefully next weekend we will be able to take them to our final fun fly of the season.

paco ritter

My Feedback: (51)

OK folks, here is my so far unseen in these post submission that I must admit I "borrowed" from a fellow modeler's trailer at Mt. Pleasant, TX Big Bird flyin in early October of '05. At this point, as you can tell by the picture, the trailer is basically empty. I just purchased it from a fellow modeler who is going from big birds to 3D .60-1.20 size and has totally downsized. His loss, my gain. I started by emptying everything basically except the 115v light strip that he had installed and the receptacles for my chargers. I have seen this type lighting before, but have no idea where to get it. It is a clear plastic flexible tube with lighting inside of it. works great too. Not extreme lighting, but enough to do what you need to do at night or inside of the trailer, much better than an unlit trailer. Next is the flooring. I took some carpet cut to the same basic size as the inside of the trailer. then on top of that, I used 1/2 of a section or an approximate 5' x 10' section of "hog wire", "cattle panel" or whatever name you choose to call it. It can be found at Tractor Supply or other farm stores. This is held in place by a half dozen conduit clamps. The conduit clamps, along with the carpet, allow the fencing to be flexible enough to allow you to pick it up enough to get the hook of a bungie cord under it to wrap around landing gear,etc. The carpet also acts as a noise insulator for the metal cattle panel material. There are no blocks to install, no cradles, nothing but infinitely adjustable places to attach a bungie cord. This allows you to move your plane or places anywhere on the floor you want, and still be able to tie them down. At this point these are the only two things that I have accomplished on my trailer, but much more is planned, many ideas coming from this forum. Keep up the chat, it helps us all....

the-plumber

Are those water stains on the side wall ?

If so, you probably need to re-seal the seams with RTV.

rcking

My Feedback: (8)

hi PACORITTER
You are looking for rope lights./ check out Lowes or Home Depot they are now available in the x mas light area ! just make sure there not the chasing light style they come both ways useally in
18 ft lenths you can put about 5 sets together for one lenth. they cost about 8 bucks a lenth!
KEEP US UP TO DATE ON YOUR PROGRESS!
c ya stan

rcking

My Feedback: (8)

hi PACORITTER
how is your trailer coming along ?

rfaster

My Feedback: (1)

Great Thread -for those of us who are in the market for a trailer!! Well after realizing that my 40% would not fit comfortably in my SUV I decided I needed a trailer. I have digested most of this thread and feel that I know exactally what I need/want in a trailer - so Today I pulled the trigger. Well when I say pull the trigger I pulled but unfortunately no BANG - or atleast no bang until 4 to 6 weeks down the road . In any event today I ordered a Haulmark 5X10 w/Vnose, extra side door, ramp rear door and the touring package (2 12 V lights, rock shield, 3/4 ply etc..) everything except for the extra 6 inches since I need this trailer to fit in my garage. I was very happy when I realized I could do a Vnose on the 5X10 - turning my 5X10 into a virtual 5X12 while keeping the 13.5 foot length. I plan to use a lot of the suggestions in this thread to upgrade the inside of my trailer - including installing a shelf 1/2 - my GOAL is to be able to hold 2 40%'s - perhaps a 3.1 M and 3.3 M along with 2 33%.

Oh - and since I had to order it - I figured I'd mix it up a bit and go with Schneider Orange!! - Figure its the perfect color for a toy hauler + it matches one of my planes.

First Q - I read some posts about painting the walls white - What's the best paint to use for the wall's - and what other supplies would you recommend that I buy to tackle this first job. After the paint I plan on using the pre-glued carpet squares on the ramp door and inside.

bhanley

rfaster - let me know where you find the carpet squares. I have not been able to
locate them here except for a special order from Home Depot - and they are
pricey when done that way.
Thanks

rfaster

My Feedback: (1)

I was assuming they were readily available from places like Home-Depot... if they are not then perhaps I'll have to change my plans. Do we know where the guy who posted in this thread got this... I recall him saying they were easy/cheap.

the-plumber

White. As in high gloss bone white. Helps preserve what little light there is in a trailer. If the Haul Mark interior is unpainted wood, you'll want to primer it first because most trailers are panelled with luan ply, and that stuff sucks up paint like it was somethin' good if you don't prime the wood first. BTDT.

As for flooring, it's hard to beat an oil-based enamel with "anti-skid additive". Benjamin Moore sells the stuff - you just mix it into the pain and roll it on. Coarse enough that you'll get asphalt rash if you try to slide across the floor after the paint has cured. Personally, I don't like slipping and sliding in the trailer if the floor gets wet.

rfaster

My Feedback: (1)

Good info on the primer - I think I have painted all of 1 thing in my entire life - so I'll need the paint by numbers instructions!

Are all primers created equil? - or should I be looking for a specific one.

On the paint - is the High Gloss Bone white as durable as needed - or do they make something that will clean easy - last etc...? ( again - newbie paint q's)

I think the antiskid additive sounds good - but after reading all of the posts I was leaning towards carpet... perhaps I need to go back and re-read some to see what the reasoning was.

Dangerous Dan

My Feedback: (1)

I used Kiltz and Bher high gloss exterior latex on mine

Cub Man

My Feedback: (50)

I turned away from white as to me it gets dirty to easy. I used some paint that was made for kids rooms that is easy cleanup. The color I went with was a light gray. The pain I used only cost my $1.00 for a gallon. If you check around your paint places sometimes they will resale the miss matches they do. Yes some times they will only have wild off the wall colors but other time you can find what you need

bolar

My Feedback: (5)

For paint I would use any good oil base paint. That way you get a good seal. For the carpet squares I got mine at a place called Menards a similar place to Home Depot and Lowes. I'm not sure if they are national. .

rfaster

My Feedback: (1)

I plan to check out my HomeDepot and Lowes this wknd to see if they have any... do you remeber how much per square you paid?

bolar

My Feedback: (5)

Mine came in a cardboard box that said Berber Tiles on it. There were 20, 12X12 squares per box. It has been so long that I don't remember how much I paid, sorry.

the-plumber

AFAIK, latex primers are pretty much the same.

Having said that, I used The BORG paint once, and never again. Simply does not hold up well. Color matches weren't good enough, either.

I use Benjamin Moore paints exclusively, because the paints themselves work and because the dealers can match any color in any paint series, e.g. flat, semi, or gloss.

Don't believe there is any such thing as a paint that will stand up to abrasion and scuffing, not even oil based paints. I do try to avoid whacking the models against the trailer walls, though. Haven't needed to 'clean' the walls yet, but the BM paints stand up well in the house, so it stands to reason they will be equally 'cleanable' in the trailer.

I read a bunch of trailer-building threads and the consensus seemed to be that carpet or carpet squares worked well until fuel or oil was spilled. After that the problem was keeping the carpet clean (or clean enough).

Down here in hotLanta, mold and mildew are a real problem. Using a carpet steam cleaner in a trailer would mean having to leave the trailer open for a few days so the carpet could dry out, and that's a luxury our normal hotLanta weather does not allow.

Unless I manage to get mud in the trailer or spill something that needs wiping up, the leaf blower deals with routing floor cleaning in about a minute.

I used BM deck gray oil based paint on the trailer floor, with the anti-skid additive. Yes, you can scuff that paint, but only by sliding something heavy or something with hard metal edges (like the hydraulic jack) across the floor. Sliding a cardboard box across the floor is a good way to open the cardboard box, because the anti-skid additive does a really good job of sanding off the outer layer of cardboard.

The only down side to painting the floor with oil-based paint was that I finished the job in November and because the weather disallowed leaving the trailer open, the paint odor took a long time to dissipate.

rfaster

My Feedback: (1)

I checked both Home Depot and Lowes - and neither had the carpet squares so looks like I will be going the paint route for both the walls and floor. Just hope my trailer is ready closer to the 4 - than the 6 weeks they estimate. Got a call late last week to make sure I ordered the correct color... guess Schneider orange is not that common :-)

LeeL

My Feedback: (1)

rfaster check the flooring section at Home depot and Lowes for carpet that was cut wrong or returned I was able to pick up a 12'x14' piece of indoor-outdoor carpet for around $15. I layed it in the trailer trimmed it to fit and anchored it down with stainless stapples took less than an hour and so far has worked flawlessly. Just another option to consider

Prop Nut

My Feedback: (3)

Sure its common, just look along most any highway construction area Them barrels are baby Schneider trucks before they hatch.

bolar

My Feedback: (5)

Yes remnants are something to keep an eye out for. If you hit a place at the right time you can get it very cheap. Even if you bought a 5X10 indoor/outdoor it's not that expensive if you shop around. You can even find different colors than the golf green .

Sunny_B

I have a 6X12X6 that my son and use to transport our planes, and give the grandsons a place to work on their Stadium trucks on race night. Because of these dual uses we had to be careful in our layout.

1911fan

My Feedback: (1)

After reading this whole thread and learning alot I figured I would post some picks of our progress on our trailer. It started out as a 6x14 single axle Carmate trailer with untreated 3/8" plywood walls.

My 6 year old son and I put two coats of paint on the walls and floor and then installed carpet and fabricated cabinets. We rewired the light circuits and provided power throughout the unit by a new sealed gel 12volt car battery(it looks like a 6-pack encased in plastic)

We installed a stereo and speakers out the rear along with an onboard battery charger and a reverse 110volt recessed plug to connect a standard extension cord to the locked trailer to charge stuff overnight.

The vertical beams for the wing rack have blind nuts recessed in the rear and the dowels have threaded studs on the end that allow me to secure them into the beams without any chance of them falling out.

We are by no means done since I need to insulate the roof and install the fan in the vent, but it is coming along. I decided to use left over EZ track on the baseboards to allow flexibility with cross beams and other fusalage carriers that I can move for and aft.

bigdarylg

sweet, throw a shower in there and i'll move in lol

rfaster

My Feedback: (1)

Sunny - very nice/flexible setup. I like the floor - what type of material is that and was it difficult to install?